The present generation is digital natives; they grow up tech-savvy using digital technologies. As a result, the education industry is trying to cope with the new generation of learners and incorporating innovative approaches, like gamification in education that integrate game-like elements – such as points, badges, leaderboards, and interactive challenges – into the learning process. When it comes to learning, being focused, and immersed, gamification offers a way to make education more enjoyable and fun, alongside productivity.
This blog explores the use of gamification in education in reshaping education, its benefits, and how it can be effectively implemented in classrooms.
What is Gamification in Education?
Before delving deep, let’s try to answer “What is Gamification in Education?”
In the book The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-Based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education by K.M. Kapp, gamification is “using game-based mechanics, aesthetics, and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems.”
In simpler terms, gamification in education is nothing but using gaming elements to make learning more interactive and engaging.
To elaborate on gamification theory in education, it is the process that implements game-like elements into non-gaming activities to enhance motivation and engagement. Gamification involves using game-based elements such as point scoring, peer competition, teamwork, and score tables to drive engagement, which help students assimilate new information and test their knowledge.
One of the top gamification examples in education is Kahoot!– a Norwegian online game-based learning platform. It offers interactive educational games called “Kahoots,” which are user-made tests with multiple choices that may be accessed via the Kahoot! app or a web browser.
How to Implement Gamification in the Classroom?
The technique of gamification is a strategy for increasing engagement and enhancing the learning experience of students by incorporating game elements into an educational environment.
Gamification can be incorporated to conduct pre-assessments, formative assessments, as a part of the course delivery, etc. to understand, review, and evaluate the student’s learning. It can be incorporated at different stages of a course depending on the course and the discretion of the faculty. Gamification works because it triggers real, powerful human emotions such as happiness, intrigue, excitement, and accomplishment.
The following can be considered as ways to gamify your classroom:
- Determination of learners’ characteristics: When teachers implement new approaches in the learning process it is essential to define students’ characteristics (profiles) in order to determine whether the new tools and techniques would be suitable. The key and decisive factors are the predisposition of the students to interact with the learning content and to participate in learning events with a competitive nature.
- Definition of learning objectives: The learning objectives have to be specific and clearly defined. The purpose of education is to achieve the learning objectives because otherwise, all activities (including gamification activities) will seem pointless. The objectives determine what educational content and activities are to be included in the learning process and the selection of appropriate game mechanics and techniques to achieve them.
- Creation of educational content and activities for gamification: The educational content should be interactive, engaging, and rich in multimedia elements. The training activities should be developed and tailored to the learning objectives.
- Adding game elements and mechanisms: The key element of gamification is the inclusion of tasks that learners have to perform. The performance of tasks leads to the accumulation of points, transition to higher levels, and winning of awards. All these actions are aimed at achieving predetermined learning objectives. Which elements will be included in training depends on the defined objectives (what knowledge and skills should be acquired as a result of the task). Activities that require independent work by students bring individual awards (such as badges). Activities requiring interaction with other learners are the social element of training, they make students a part of a big learning community and their results are public and visible (such as leaderboards).
What are the Effects of Gamification in Education?
The most important indicator of a student’s knowledge attainment is engagement; the level of attention and personal involvement a person has with an activity. The more engaged students are with the learning process, the more they will internalize the learned skills. Studies on gamification show that the use of gamification in the classroom increases student engagement.
The following are the advantages of gamification in education:
● Boosted Student Engagement
Gamification involves creativity and student choice, which increases engagement.
● Active Learning
Gamification encourages hands-on problem-solving and critical thinking rather than passive listening.
● Better Retention
Active engagement in quizzes, challenges, and simulations enhances retention and comprehension of subjects.
● Boosts Healthy Competition
Gamification increases competition which can lead to engagement.
● Personalized Learning
Education gamification equips users with adaptive tasks and feedback in real-time, allowing them to tailor their learning pace and style to individual needs.
● Soft Skill Development
Certain educational gamifications, such as Minecraft: Education Edition, need team play. These games encourage teamwork and collaboration among learners.
● Immediate Feedback
Gamification gives students immediate feedback (through peer feedback, progress bars, badges, teacher response, etc.) and allows them to easily track their progress toward academic goals.
● Cognitive Growth
Experts have found that the technique of gamification such as “cognitive enhancement games,” can increase neural activity, which can be advantageous to cognitive development. With the use of challenges, puzzles, and crosswords, these games improve the brain’s ability to comprehend and remember data better.
The above are some of the effects of gamification in education. The list is non-exhaustive and more advantages can be included.
Gamification in Education at Globsyn Business School
Globsyn Business School has integrated Gamification as a part of its continuous evaluation in the form of surprise and scheduled quizzes. These platforms can also be used to deliver lectures in class by incorporating quizzes as well as PPTs. The B-School has explored different gamification platforms, especially Quizizz and Kahoot, as they include maximum features and proved to be more engaging and attractive as compared to some others.
Activities, exercises, task-based analysis, role-plays, and gamification, play an integral part of the GBS curriculum that ensures the development of the students’ cognitive, interpersonal, and intra-personal skills so that they emerge as industry-relevant managers. When adopting education gamification, GBS takes into account the advantages and disadvantages of gamification in education. The comprehensive approach ensures students’ cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal abilities grow, equipping them to become industry-ready managers.